IFC said the season-six premiere of stalwart comedy Portlandia grew its target-demographic audience from the prior season's kickoff, and then nearly doubled its total audience with time shifting.
The network said the show's return on Thursday, Jan. 21, was modestly better (up 3% in adults 18-49 and up 15% in adults 25-54) compared with the season-five premiere on a live plus same day viewing basis.
Measuring live plus three day viewing, the audience grew to nearly 400,000 total viewers, up 87% compared with the L+SD figure (207,000), IFC said. The L+3 figures in key demos were 266,000 adults 18-49 (up from 137,000 on a L+SD basis) and 275,000 adults 25-54.
The episode, "Pickathon," featured a much-promoted guest appearance of rock band The Flaming Lips in a storyline that saw characters Fred and Carrie (Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein) use drones and virtual-reality helmets to remotely visit a Coachella-like festival.
